Monthly Archives : June 2018

If you’ve got plans to read this summer, we’ve got some great suggestions for you.

Whether you’re relaxing in a lakeside Airbnb rental or headed to the beach for a few hours of relaxation, spending some time reading through the six books we’ve recommended in our two-part series will strengthen your resolve as an employee and expand the dreams you have of moving up in your own company, making a lateral move or starting your own business.

In our first post, we highlighted books that provided specific steps you can take and traits you can adopt to achieve your short- and long-term goals.

In this post, we’re focusing on three unique but powerful books that address customer service, resilience and a case study in a wildly successful product.

We live in a world where one ill-timed mistake can turn into a viral sensation that creates hordes of haters. Businesses need to be experts in turning their most critical customers into their happiest using popular social media channels, personal interaction and genuine interest in individuals.

Baer’s book provides businesses with the tools they need to leverage public interactions in a way that turns the tide of public opinions and wins faithful followers one by one.

Need more convincing? According to Baer, 80 percent of companies say they have good customer service while only 8 percent of their customers say they do.

The book provides advice on multiple customer- and press-related matters, Entrepreneur contributor John Rampton pointed out.

“The book also covers how to embrace complaints, turn bad news into great news, and transform haters into ambassadors for a brand,” Rampton wrote.

“Hug Your Haters” is available on Amazon for $16.72 and has an average rating of 4.4 stars from more than 125 reviews.

Hardship is a given inside and outside of the business world; it’s an axiom that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg knows well.

Her husband passed away unexpectedly during a vacation in 2015. The loss was gut-wrenching for Sandberg and her children.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sandberg talked about the loss:

“Going through this … it’s the unimaginable. Those early days … months, weeks, I felt like there was this void closing in on me. The grief. I couldn’t breathe. And I didn’t know what to do. I turned to my friend Adam and I said, ‘How do I get my kids through this?’ Because I was so worried their childhoods were going to be wiped away.”

In “Option B”, Sandberg talks about the power of resiliency and how it can be used in business to overcome disaster and find success. The book is a poignant and invaluable resource for those who’ve been met with unexpected loss and need a sympathetic and influential voice to help them bounce back.

The book gets an average rating of 4.5 stars on Amazon and is $14.68 in its hardcover version.

“The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone,” by Brian Merchant

Merchant dives into the history of the iPhone, taking you from planning meetings for multi-touch screens before the phone was even developed to the marketing and launch of Apple’s most profitable device in its history.

The book touches on various vignettes from the phone’s history, walking you through the stages of development and providing insight into the ideas and strategies that made the phone an international icon.

Serving as a case study for idea development and implementation, the book is a fascinating read for a variety of situations:

You’re in the middle of a project and need some inspiration to get to the next stage.

You have an idea, but you aren’t sure how to make it a reality.

You’re in on the planning stages of a new initiative at work and you want insight into how to adapt and succeed.

Merchant’s book gets an average of four stars from nearly 100 reviews on Amazon and is available in hardback for $17.67.

Wrapping It Up: Plenty of Material for Personal and Business Growth

Succeeding in business is just as much about what you learn after school as what you learn in school.

The six books we’ve recommended are among the best that have been released over the past two years. They provide real-life examples of individuals who relied on their determination and focus to overcome difficulty and achieve the dream or standard of excellence to which they aspired.

And with summer comes vacation plans that include a few hours here and there for reading. Even if you aren’t heading out of town between June and September, a few hours on the beach every so often is the perfect time to read through some excellent business books.

Over the course of the next two posts, we’ll provide you with a list of the year’s newest and most popular business books, titles which can inspire you and provide insight into how you can strengthen your business acumen.

“Your Best Year Ever: A Five-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals” by Michael Hyatt

Hyatt is a business vet and a productivity guru whose new book is a great way to renew your vigor for the goals you set at the beginning of the year.

Here’s how the book’s website describes the type of person who could benefit from Hyatt’s newest tome:

“We all want to live a life that matters. We all want to reach our full potential. But too often we find ourselves overwhelmed by the day-to-day. Our big goals get pushed to the back burner—and then, more often than not, they get forgotten.”

What’s interesting about this particular tome is that Hyatt offers packages for individuals and businesses that serve as a multi-week course focused on the principles the book lays out.

The hardcover version of the book goers for $15.13 on Amazon.com and has an average rating of 4.8 stars from more than 250 Amazon customer reviews.

“Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life” by Daymond John

Daymond John, he of Shark Tank fame, was part of the founding team of FUBU, the international clothing brand made famous in the ‘90s. John took out a $100,000 mortgage on his home to launch the business. He split his home in half and used one part of it to live and the other part of it to produce clothing.

If there’s anyone who knows how to grind his way to success, it’s John. His book focuses on how you can draw on the methods he used in his own life to implement and accomplish the business goals you’ve set for yourself. Here’s how Business Insider’s Richard Feloni and Shana Lebowitz describe the book:

“He’s drawing from his own career and those of fellow entrepreneurs to compile the rituals, habits, and best practices for sustained success, whether you’re leading your own company or not.”

John’s book is available on Amazon for $15.04 in hardcover. It gets an average of 4.5 stars from more than 400 reviews.

“The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors that Transform People into World-Class Leaders” by Elena Botelho and Kim Powell

Botelho and Powell gathered up data from thousands of CEOs and those aspiring to executive positions to compile a list of four common behaviors that make people succeed.

Both women have the credentials and expertise to back up their observations, too. Botelho is a Wharton grad and Powell received her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Their book has drawn high praise from thought leaders. Here’s what author Daniel H. Pink said in his recommendation about the sources used for the book:

“They may not all come from fancy schools, but they do know how to make smart decisions, adapt to changed circumstances, and work honestly and directly with customers and employees. Whether you’re running a large organization, or simply have your eye on the corner office, this book should be your guide.”

This book is an excellent choice if you’re working from the bottom up or you’re in mid-management and want to find the edge you need to ascend.

“The CEO Next Door” hardcover is available on Amazon for $16.30. It gets an average rating of 4.7 stars from 27 reviews at the time of publishing.

Part 2: Three More Business Books for the Summer

In our second post on the best business reads for the summer, we review three books that delve into personal experience or product development and mine some of the important principles that worked well for the authors or the products they researched.

It’s important to keep in mind that these success narratives aren’t hard and fast rules from which you can’t waver; contextualize the principles into your own workplace situation.